Investigation of Inner City Reading Instruction Programs. Final Report.

Ramsey, Wallace Z.

The objectives of this survey were (1) the examination of five major inner-city reading programs, (2) consultation with school officials in those cities concerning the nature of a training program in reading, (3) the designing of a reading teacher education program for the inner city, and (4) the publication of the findings. Procedures used in the development included a study of documents describing the five cities' reading programs, questionnaires sent to school officials, on-site visits, analysis of the results of questionnaires and interviews, and the use of these results to design a suitable teacher education program. The five cities studied (New York, Washington D.C., Detroit, St. Louis, and Los Angeles) all had a high proportion of Negroes, extensive "de facto" segregation, depressed achievement levels, and financial problems. The plan devised included course work to bolster gaps in general education; work concerning Negro language, literature, history, and culture; and extensive training in reading. Combined with the course work would be observation, participation, and tutoring in the inner city. Reading training would emphasize pragmatic approaches. A program taking 5 years to complete was envisioned. (WB)